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From: michaelm@3comvax.UUCP (Michael McNeil)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Protectors and Known Space Novels
Message-ID: <215@3comvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 10-Sep-85 20:25:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: 3comvax.215
Posted: Tue Sep 10 20:25:59 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 13-Sep-85 03:43:37 EDT
References: <428@dcl-cs.UUCP> <611@hou2g.UUCP>
Organization: 3Com Corp; Mountain View, CA
Lines: 46

[Yum, yum!]

> [Scott J. Berry]

> Seems to me this "Niven has painted himself into a
> corner" argument is a crock, at least from Niven's
> point of view.  Why can't he write a novel or some
> short stories occuring during, say, the first Man/Kzin
> war?  What about some new Gil Hamilton stories?  I'm
> sure these would be well received.
> 
> Certainly, he's probably constrained from furthering
> the history and mythos of Known Space, but I hardly
> think this prevents him from writing about it entirely.

I agree he probably could, but I suspect he's bored with it.  

> I heard from a friend of a friend that talked to Niven 
> at a convention.  (Can YOU say "rumor"? I knew you could.) 
> He said the reason he has collaborated so much in recent
> years is that he has been/is in a "dry" period, ideawise.
> However, this was before "Integral Trees" which, if nothing 
> else, had some interesting ideas...

*Integral Trees* certainly is interesting!  (``Dry period,'' 
indeed!)  I think the ``world'' of *Integral Trees* is
at least as good a world-creation idea as *Ringwood* --
particularly since *Integral Trees* was a *natural* rather
than constructed feature (and might even exist somewhere).  

I talked to Larry Niven at WesterCon this last July, and he
said that he was, at that time, eleven chapters into a sequel
to *Integral Trees*!  (He said he was rewriting some of the
earlier chapters to better fill out the civilization he was
developing.)  I'm certainly looking forward to it!  

The other novel which is out so far in Niven's new universe
of the State is *A World Out of Time* -- which I also found
very enjoyable.  As a vision of what might happen on Earth
over the next few *millions* of years, it was fascinating!  

----------------
Michael McNeil
3Com Corporation
(415) 960-9367
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